Synesthetic Textophobia

Description

4 scrolls Brocade, various textiles, Chinese embroidery Synesthetic: From synesthesia, a condition when one stimulus causes the sensation of another sensation of a different modality. For example, a particular sound that is heard creates the visualization of a specific color. Textophobia: A fear of certain fabrics. Synesthetic Textophobia draws from my aversion to certain fabrics because of the people they have represented to me. Because certain fabrics have specific associations--class, wealth, vocation, heritage, etc.--I have come to identify specific fabrics with very specific people or kinds of people. In this set of works, I have embroidered text and phrases I have heard from the people or social groups with whom I associate specific fabrics that I have a strong (sometimes involuntary and very physical) aversion to. These were each sewn into a white fabric scroll representing the narrative that is the fabric of my own life, a reference to traditional Chinese narrative scroll paintings. The number four being a homophone for ?death? in Chinese, these scrolls are hung as a group of four as these messages have attempted to destroy my sense of self-worth and belonging over the years.

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